The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources cited two main reasons for denying the Moretown Landfill's permit for continued operation: failure to control odor and landfill gas emissions, and groundwater violations.

Some residents have been waiting for the closure.

"Excellent news," said Martha Douglass who lives and works just down the road from the landfill.

"The state is hearing that it's having a negative impact out here, a very big focus has been the odors," Douglass said.

Gov. Peter Shumlin weighed in during a press conference Thursday.

"You know its not a surprise to anybody, including the owners, that the useful life of the portion that was permitted, is up," said Shumlin.

The ANR acknowledges the landfill made a renewed effort to control odors and pollution. But state regulators weren't convinced there wouldn't be more problems in the future.

Advanced Disposal, which owns the site, is reviewing the documents but in a statement the company said it expects to appeal the decision.

The company says it took over the site on Sept. 1, 2012, and immediately started working on the odor problem, investing more than a million dollars in improvements.

Advance Disposal's Region Vice President David Lavender wrote in a statement that the company has been trying to improve the quality of life in the community since the company took over six months ago.

"It is a disservice to the local community and to the entire State to not recognize and promote the improvements that have been made at the site," wrote Lavender.

Losing the landfill will be harder on trash haulers who will have go farther to drop off garbage. Still, the governor said there is no shortage of places to drop off trash.

"And there are two reasons for that, recycling efforts have been much more successful than they used to be -- we're putting less material into the ground -- and there's added capacity in the northeast market," said Shumlin.